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The magazine is 60 years old in May, as I discovered on the announcement of the RCM&E 60th anniversary fly-in 2020.

I would like to go to the fly-in, and I quite like vintage models, so I looked up and found what was in that first issue. Unlike today, the model plan is not listed on the cover, and other early issues seem to have no plans. Radio control and Electronics are to the fore, and all types of model, not just aircraft. Anyway, there is Kakadu on page 47:

It is not printed full size as we are treated to now, and was not a new plan. It was redrawn from Modell. Fortunately Outerone have both versions as there are many more details on the German version. That includes all the formers. RCM&E do give the dihedral, which Modell missed off.

I am trying to resist changing things. I don't want to spend ages mulling over it. I am giving myself two allowed changes: this will be electric as I have not got IC accessories, and the sheeting at the wing root is rounded to avoid sharp corners.

Despite temptation, I am not going to add LE sheeting as a D box for the wings, or add elevators to make it 3 channel. It feels strange looking for just one servo in the spares box!

I shall need some care in places as most of it is 2mm sheet, which in places is sufficiently different from 1/16" and 3/32".

Four wings nearing completion. I think I have got two left, two right, two long, and two short in the correct combination.

I have not put the root ribs in yet. I have had gaps in other models when putting the root ribs in at the correct angle using a rib gauge, then aligning the dihedral of the wing. Someone suggested on another thread to leave the root ribs out, then glue them in when joining the wings. Sounds like a good plan, until I think about how to cut the top spars and top root sheeting to the correct size when the root ribs are not there. Any advice?

Best way with the wings is to make up the wing joiner plates with the correct dihedral, glue this to the spars with the wings at the correct dihedral and then add the root ribs and then the top sheeting.

There are no wing joiner plates in the structure, but I could of course put in some light balsa to hold the angle while fitting the rest. That might suit well. I had thought of a thicker rib to sand back. That would work well when I get my Permagrit sanding block, otherwise I struggle to sand straight.

Yep the plan doesn't show any dihedral braces, I think I would be tempted to put a 1/16" (1.5mm) light ply front and rear of the spars. Friend had a 2nd hand, never flown, Junior 60, wings folded in gentle flight, on inspection the dihedral braces were made from balsa.

Like Nigel, I think I would use 1/8th balsa for the root ribs and just make a little template out of scrap balsa to get the dihedral angle correct. Then, when you glue the finished wing halves together you won't need to do any sanding. As it is a little, lightweight model, I probably wouldn't bother with dihedral braces but, as an alternative, a 1in strip of glass fibre 'bandage' will avoid any breakages here. Impregnate the GF tape with epoxy before wrapping it around the centre section. Wear disposable gloves! Some people use PVA as an alternative.

No, I wouldn't add a leading edge 'D-box' either but the wings will be quite flexible when finished, which prompts me to ask, what will you be covering it with? Litespan from Solarfilm was ideal for this kind of lightweight open structure and is still listed on their website but not in all the colours. I also don't know if the Balsaloc adhesive is still available but I believe PVA can be used as an alternative, but best to phone them to make sure.

Thank you Piers. I did not get long to look at this yesterday evening and most of that I spent on shaping the LE and TE. I had got as far as thinking about a bandage instead of a brace. The wings are not deep, so a brace would separate the rib into two pieces. Not a problem particularly, but a pain.

I am planning to cover in polyester lining material and dope on the open structure of the wing, and tissue and dope on the solid balsa fuselage and tail. The material is 60gsm, so is a little heavy possibly, but not too much. I have not used it before, but others here have recommended it. It certainly pulls round corners well, and should shrink with heat. As I was not really planning to make this model, it feels like a free testbed, and fabric texture looks nice. A little like nylon, but I think lighter? The German version of the plan says 'Japanpapier 33g/qm' in the materials list. That sounds quite heavy if g/qm in German is gsm.

I flew Mayfly with just varnish for quite a while, then I covered with tissue and dope. The extra strength was remarkable, I have not cracked the wing tip plates since, or mashed the soft balsa sides or wings in the hangar. I am hoping the lining material will be that and more, and an extra piece may even work as the bandage. I am expecting the model to be under 1 1/2 lbs and it is designed to fly on '0.5- 0.8ccm' which is only 75 watts on a good day.

Where do you get your polyester lining material from Dad Flyer? I bought some 'Poly Fiber' material whilst I was at the LAA Rally Sywell last year. They did a demonstration, covering a (full sized ) elevator and it went on a treat, I thought I would try it on a model at some stage. The lightweight stuff they do is described as 1.87oz/squ yd. (it's American) so anyone good at sums please let me know what it really weighs for comparison. It's stuck onto an open structure with 'Poly-Tak' but I thought modelling dope would be OK to fill the weave. I bought it from Aircraft Coverings Ltd at Henstridge, Somerset, incase anyone is interested. Just click on Stits Poly Fibre at the top

I got my polyester silk from hobby craft, very light and strong and it's only £2.50 a metre (900mm wide) applied it with a warm iron using de-luxe materials "covergrip" shrunk it with a slightly hotter iron then 3 coats of thinned dope.....

Motor: 0.8cc is about 100W (and 75g for a PAW). I was hoping to use a 2830 1000kv that I have spare. On eCalc that needs a 10" prop to get anywhere near power on 2s, and for 3s I only have large batteries.

Balsa: Having got new balsa stock from SLEC, I shall do the 2mm sides as 3/32 soft. The 2mm top and bottom of the fuselage as 1/16 softish. The main 2mm fuselage doublers as 1/16 medium+ and diagonal grain (most of that is in front of the CG). Tail is 3mm, so 1/8 soft.

Dihedral: Joining the wings is the next build step. On the RCM&E plan the dihedral is 5.5 degrees, same on both wings. On the Modell plan it is 6.5 Deg. I think I shall go with 5.5.

I was pleased with a square and neat job, until I tried to remove it from the board. I had not done enough to stop it sticking to the glass. I did get it off without breaking or twisting, but there is damage to the lower sheeting.

There is still some tearing. My decision on the joining, after the suggestions above, was to put the root ribs in with the wing jigged up, and to use three ribs. I had cut one extra anyway, and my template was another one in 1/8". That gives a bit more glue area and no sanding. It feels ok without any dihedral brace (as the plan) I was also going to put on a bandage of an extra layer of doped or glued on polyester. That will deal with the remaining damage on the lower skin.

The other pair of wings is jigged up with a piece of film to prevent this one sticking to the board.